Zero Motivation

Writer-Director Talya Lavie's Zero Motivation (2014) is a multi-character, multi-storyline dark comedy about a unit of female Israeli soldiers at a Human Resources office in an army base at a remote desert location. It was based on Lavie's own 2006 short film, The Substitute, which was a hit at the Tribeca Film Festival and other festivals including Tokyo and Palm Springs. Lavie struggled in her first attempts to get the screenplay to popular Israeli star Dana Ivgy, intending her for the role of Zohara but without success. It was only when she sent the script to an acting student who she wanted for the role of a medic that Ivgy saw the script (the acting student was her boyfriend). The short was so successful that Lavie expanded and adapted it into a feature in 2014, again with Ivgy, and Nelly Tagar, Shani Klein and Heli Twito in the cast. The feature film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014 where it won two awards, including The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, which earned Lavie a $25,000 prize. Tribeca praised her, saying "In her unique and ambitious first feature, [Lavie] deftly handled such difficult themes as the military, sexism, love, ambition and friendship." Lavie also won the $25,000 Nora Ephron Prize (established in 2013 for female filmmakers whose work embodies Ephron's "spirit and vision"), as well as many international awards and nominations. Zero Motivation was the most successful film in Israel for the year, selling over 500,000 tickets. Lavie put the success down to its authenticity, which helped the Israeli people feel that the film was made for them, rather than an international audience.

By Lorraine LoBianco